It's gut-check time for Rock

There are still seven games left in its 2017 National Lacrosse League campaign but the cushion it had on second place in the NLL East has now evaporated.

Two of the seven come this weekend and neither will be easy. First it’s a trip south to suburban Atlanta to face the league-leading Georgia Swarm (7:35 p.m.). Then it catches the red-eye back north to the Air Canada Centre to face the much-improved Vancouver Stealth on Saturday (7 p.m.).

The Rock (6-5) took another home loss last Friday, 14-11 to the Colorado Mammoth, after which head coach Matt Sawyer criticized the team for not playing well in any area of its game.

With the loss, they now have a slim lead over the New England Black Wolves (6-6) and the Buffalo Bandits (5-6) in the division and two losses could see them outside a playoff position.

“It’s an important weekend for us,” Sawyer said. “We feel we’re in a good spot and it’s up to us to maintain our record.”

“Chances are it’s going to come down to the end anyways.”

The Swarm (8-3) had a rough start to March with two losses. But it bounced back at home last Friday with a 17-8 win over the Calgary Roughnecks, highlighted by an 8-1 run in the second quarter.

The Rock faced the Swarm on Feb. 17 with Georgia taking a 13-12 overtime win after tying the game with four seconds left in regulation.

“We feel that was one we let slip away,” Sawyer said. “It was a great game, game of the year so far.”

“They have so much talent up front so we have to go back to our defence and goaltending being the best part of our game.”

Lyle Thompson, one of three brothers on the team, is third in league scoring with 70 points. Jordan Hall has 51 points while Shayne Jackson has 42.

The Stealth (5-7) are showing signs of improvement after being a league doormat the past three seasons. Corey Small is the league’s leading scorer with 78 points. Rhys Duch is enjoying a solid campaign with 60 points while Logan Schuss has 51.

“They’ve got some tough checks that we have to deal with,” Sawyer said. “But they’ve been getting some good goaltending from Tye Belanger and they have been playing a different defensive system.”

“They’ve tightened up and they’re not allowing some quality scoring chances they used to.”

Tom Schreiber continues to lead the Rock in scoring with 57 points. Brett Hickey is up to 43 while Stephan Leblanc stands at 41. Nick Rose still leads all goalies with a 9.77 goals-against average.